In a letter to the chairman, Kevin Martin, Michael Copps, the FCC's senior Democrat member, has called for a special investigation into the proposal.
The FCC's cross-ownership rule bars owners of a TV station in a market from buying a local newspaper. However, Murdoch's News Corporation owns the New York Post and WNYW-TV in New York, and operates the station under a waiver from the rule.
In his letter, Copps said the deal would mean New Yorkers faced the prospect of a single company operating two of the area's most popular TV stations and two of its most popular newspapers.
